Fortune cookies: Their origins aren’t what you think

Lee writes that Yasuko Nakamachi, a researcher in Japan, has determined that the ubiquitous cookies actually come from that country. Among her evidence is a Japanese print from 1878 showing a man making the cookies.

A video shows contemporary Japanese bakers making the crescent-shaped cookies. Japanese cookie makers, concerned that people would accidentally eat the fortunes, tuck them between the crescent’s horns, outside the cookie. Hmmmmm … would that tempt people to cheat and preview the fortune before picking their cookie?